Mads Syndergaard
05-18-2015, 05:47 AM
The Eurasian dotterel is an uncommon spring visitor to western Denmark. They have a number of fields marked where they rest for a few days before continuing North towards the breeding grounds, and once you know their fields, finding them isn't too hard.
Most of the fields are already cultivated by the time they get here, but I was lucky to find one that was still completely unprocessed by the farmer, and had a flock in it. The birds aren't skittish as such, but do tend to move around much during the day, not least when a raptor comes past. So I took advantage of their unrest and went and sat in the middle of the field, flat on my bum, with the big gun (EOS 1D mkIV with EF 600 L IS) on the tripod in front of me, and waited until the birds came closer.
It was a very windy day, so when one bird decided to exercise its wings a little it didn't actually move anywhere - you can see the same little stump of a grain stalk from last year, in the same location relative to the bird, in all the images. The stationary nature of the little dance also made the entire sequence sharp - if it had moved more, focus would have been much harder.
So, aside from showing an attractive shorebird in a nice sequence I just wanted to remind all that a bit of luck (in this case the strong wind) often makes a difference to nature photography :S3:
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The images are cropped a fair bit from the original but I think I am JUST getting away with it. EXIF is f5.6 at 1/1250, ISO 320. Minimal pp aside from the crop - changed the colour balance a tad before converting, and added a dollop of Smart Sharpen.
Comments welcome :S3:
Most of the fields are already cultivated by the time they get here, but I was lucky to find one that was still completely unprocessed by the farmer, and had a flock in it. The birds aren't skittish as such, but do tend to move around much during the day, not least when a raptor comes past. So I took advantage of their unrest and went and sat in the middle of the field, flat on my bum, with the big gun (EOS 1D mkIV with EF 600 L IS) on the tripod in front of me, and waited until the birds came closer.
It was a very windy day, so when one bird decided to exercise its wings a little it didn't actually move anywhere - you can see the same little stump of a grain stalk from last year, in the same location relative to the bird, in all the images. The stationary nature of the little dance also made the entire sequence sharp - if it had moved more, focus would have been much harder.
So, aside from showing an attractive shorebird in a nice sequence I just wanted to remind all that a bit of luck (in this case the strong wind) often makes a difference to nature photography :S3:
152313
152314
152315
152316
152317
The images are cropped a fair bit from the original but I think I am JUST getting away with it. EXIF is f5.6 at 1/1250, ISO 320. Minimal pp aside from the crop - changed the colour balance a tad before converting, and added a dollop of Smart Sharpen.
Comments welcome :S3: